The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Cleatis Roach. Roach joined the Army Air Forces in April, 1943 and had basic training at Sheppard Field, near Wichita Falls, Texas. After basic, he went to Texas Tech in Lubbock for preflight training. When he learned it would take a lot of time to learn to fly and then be assigned to a combat unit, Roach quit flight school and went to aerial gunnery school. After training, he was assigned to a B-17 crew and went overseas in December 1944. Once he reached England, his crew was assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, 729th Bomb Squadron at Deopham Green, near Attleborough. He flew 17 or 18 combat missions over Germany before the war ended. He returned from Europe to train in B-29s when the Japanese surrendered. Roach was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Wiesmann. Wiesmann joined the Navy in June of 1939. He served aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wiesmann recalls being ashore waiting for a church service to begin when the first Japanese planes attacked. Beginning August of 1942, he was transferred to the USS Boston (CA-69), and served on the deck force. He speaks of his shellback initiation, crossing the equator. Wiesmann also recalls their participation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Beard. He was born in 1924. In 1943, he joined the United States Army Air Forces. Upon completing basic training, he underwent pilot training and became a B-24 pilot. After spending time in Panama, he was sent to New Guinea where he underwent jungle training. He then went to Clark Field, Philippine Islands. There he flew missions over Japan and he tells of seeing smoke residue from the atomic bomb blast. Beard returned to the US after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Bell. Bell finished college at Texas Tech before joining the Army Air Forces in 1942. He was commissioned and sent to India where he joined the 341st Bomb Group as an engineer officer. He shares several anecdotes about his experiences.

Transcript of an oral interview with Raymond Renfro. Born in 1923, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in November 1942. After training in Camp Pendleton, California, he was assigned to a machine gun squad in the 4th Marine Division. He describes landing on the Marshall Islands of Roi and Namur during the Battle of Kwajalein. He also relates his experiences in a rifle platoon under Captain Houston Stiff during the Battle of Saipan. He was wounded by an exploding shell and evacuated to a hospital ship. He was given a medical discharge in January 1945. The interview contains information about his early family life as well as information about his brother, Robert Renfro, who was captured by the Japanese while serving in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Werner. Werner joined the Army in January of 1940. He served as a gun mechanic with the 64th Coast Artillery Antiaircraft. Additionally, he worked as an assistant mail censor. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 attack. Werner provides vivid details of his experiences on the night before and during that fateful day. In early 1943 he joined the Army Air Forces, and was sent to radio school with specialty training in direction finding. From there he traveled to New Guinea to set up a direction finding station near a military landing strip. He continued on to Hollandia, Australia and the Philippines. He was discharged around January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walter White. White trained to be an aircraft electrician at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He was drafted into the Army Air Force and completed gunnery school in Arlington, Texas. He was assigned to the 492nd Bomb Group in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He served as tail gunner on B-24s. He provides description of the plane’s interior and location of tail gunner. In March of 1944 his crew traveled to a base in North Pickenham, England. Their plane was titled the Ruptured Duck. Overall, White flew 30 combat missions. He describes missions flown to Germany and between France and Switzerland. He returned to the States with 1,000 German prisoners aboard a troop ship. He was then assigned as an electrician to a B-17 outfit. He was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ray Pinell. Pinell joined the Navy early in 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. He received training on firing and repairing torpedoes. Upon completion he was assigned to various torpedo squadrons in the Pacific. He worked primarily in field repair units but would occasionally fill in as a torpedoman aboard PT boats. In addition to carrying out night patrols, he would soften landings in the Philippines by firing torpedoes close to shore. Pinell was stationed in Borneo when the war ended. He was startled into his foxhole by many ships firing in celebration. Pinell returned home and was discharged in October 1946.